xviii, 636 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm

"By the author of acclaimed biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Adams, a penetrating biography of one of the most high-minded, consequential, and controversial US presidents, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). The Moralist is a cautionary tale about the perils of moral vanity and American overreach in foreign affairs."--Provided by publisher

"President from 1913 to 1921, Wilson set a high bar for himself and the country. No president believed more fervently in the primacy of morality in politics or the 'moral force' of ideas. [This book] measures Wilson by his own standards while recounting his unprecedented success as an economic reformer, his grand vision for a peaceful world order, his moral blind spots (on race, women's suffrage, and free speech in wartime), and a final defeat that was largely self-inflicted. The Moralist is a cautionary tale about moral vanity and the limitations of leadership that strays too far from political realities. But it is also a tale of the enduring power of high ideals. Despite Wilson's missteps, his searching moral questions--about the role of a government in the lives of its people and about the duty of the United States to the larger world--transformed the economy and revolutionized international relations. Wilson's ideas remained at the heart of American political debate for the rest of the twentieth century. The challenges of the twenty-first require many answers that Wilson could not have supplied, but his central moral question--What is the right thing for a government to do?--is as relevant, and as urgent, as ever."--Dust jacket

Includes bibliographical references and index

Son of the South -- When a man comes to himself -- Ascent -- Against all odds -- A new freedom -- A president begins -- Lines of accommodation -- Our detached and distant situation -- Moral force -- A psychological moment -- Departures -- The general wreck -- At sea -- Moonshine -- Strict accountability -- Haven -- Dodging trouble -- The world is on fire -- Stumbling in the dark -- The mystic influence of the stars and stripes -- By a whisker -- Verge of war -- Decision -- The associate -- The right men -- One white-hot mass instinct -- Over here, over there -- So many problems per diem -- Defiance -- Final triumph -- Storm warning -- The fog of peace -- Settling the accounts -- Stroking the cat the wrong way -- Paralyzed -- Altogether an unfortunate mess -- Breaking the heart of the world -- Best of the second-raters -- Swimming upstream -- Epilogue

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